With me

Well, I'm finally back at school which means I'll be getting back into something of a rhythm as far as training schedules go. While at home, I worked pretty exclusively on the "with me" command, which I've defined as a loose leash walk which requires that the dog stay beside or behind me and not pull on the lead. I don't mind if the dog sniffs around or wanders a little further away from me at times but I want no tension on the lead and no forging ahead. This training has been going well so I'm beginning to ask for the "with me" under increasing distractions and in different environments. So far Keiko can hold the command up and down the street. If she sees a person, she will break the command but yesterday I was able to get her attention back by simply heading in a different direction. She's not quite ready to maintain a "with me" while going head on towards another person but we're working on it. She did very well yesterday coming down the hall to see the officers after our club meeting. I had to stop a couple of times when she pulled on the lead in an attempt to forge ahead but after the second stop, she understood. That didn't stop her body from wriggling with excitement, though.

It took a while for this pup to wear on me...I was constantly worrying about whether or not she would be what I wanted. But every week, every day even I realize how much she is what I wanted and may be even more than I wanted. It seems that during our training sessions or even when just lounging about she does something small that makes me excited to have her. She is also beginning to show me more attention (with age, of course) and has surprised me more than once when I've tried to call her off of a distraction. Yesterday for instance, my roommate was holding her dogs by the collar while I brought Keiko in from the backyard. I expected her to pull and pull towards them. She did go towards them but a simple "eh-eh" followed by the slight direction turn towards my room and a "with me" had her immediately focused on me! She did a similar thing when one of the officers arrived in our driveway for the meeting while we were working the "with me" outside yesterday. It seems that if I communicate to her that I would rather she didn't pay attention to something I know she considers high value (i.e. another person or dog) she is becoming more and more willing to say "okay, whatever you want!" I suppose I am beginning to see the "willingness to please" in the breed which is what I was seeking when I decided I wanted a herding breed dog in the first place. If you can't tell, I'm happy with her! I'll try to get some new photos within the next few weeks or so once things have settled down and I'm completely moved into my house.

Today we worked a little more frequently and deliberately on the sit. I want to begin having short, five minute training sessions with her so that I can get some real progress on commands underway. A huge problem I am encountering is that I haven't yet selected a name for her. I think it is hindering my training process. I just can't seem to settle on one. I need to stop being indecisive and pick one so that I can teach it to her tomorrow...that is my goal.

I am trying to take my own advice and relish on the baby steps forward we are making. This morning after our walk and breakfast, I crated her (this is when she'll be crated when I go to work for a few hours) and was able to go empty and refill the dishwasher with minimal crying on her part which eventually diminished as she fell asleep.

After feeding lunch, I took her to a friend's apartment complex where we met my friend (though I limited my friend's interaction with her for the time being) and where she also met her first dog since she's been in my possession. A guy was coming down the apartment stairs, moving some of his things out. Accompanying him was a female black lab, heeling naturally. I trusted her body language and the two met very well. I'm pleased with how the brief meeting went and am glad the dog had as good of a temperament as she did.

I then left her alone in the house (in her crate) for the first time while I ran to the bank and picked up something to eat for lunch. She was resting quietly when I returned home. I left her a second time for a slightly longer period of time when I went to get dessert with a friend. When I returned, she was again resting quietly. This is good news! I have to look at the positives as we move through the steps involved in crate training. I find that this is one of the areas where I am quicker to become frustrated and as such, I need to monitor my patience.

Tomorrow we were supposed to be taking a walk and meeting another dog but I'm not sure how or if that's going to go yet...we'll see.